The State Cabinet on Monday accepted the recommendation of an expert committee to accord ‘religious minority’ status to the numerically strong and politically-influential Lingayat and Veerashaiva Lingayat community.The state government will soon notify “religious minority” status to “Lingayats and Veerashaiva Lingayats (believers of Basava philosophy)?”?under section 2(d) of the Karnataka State Minorities Act, 1994.Addressing reporters after the cabinet meeting, which lasted for four hours and witnessed a heated debate on the issue, Law Minister T?B?Jayachandra said the sta

The BJP on Monday slammed the Karnataka government for its decision to recommend separate religion status for Lingayats, accusing Chief Minister Siddaramaiah of "playing with fire for vote back politics". Party general secretary in-charge of Karnataka P Muralidhar Rao accused the state's ruling Congress of practising a "divide and rule" policy. "Congress carrying 'Divide and Rule' legacy of Britishers in India. Siddaramaiah ji is playing with fire for vote bank politics. Why has Congress done this before elections? Why haven't they done it 4 years back?" he said in a tweet. In a significant mo

With the decision to accord separate religion status to Lingayats despite stiff opposition from various quarters, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah appears to have taken a calculated risk ahead of the elections. The move is aimed not only at pleasing Lingayats, who were considered traditional BJP supporters, but to ensure split in the community, which is said to be the largest in terms of population. But the million dollar question is: Will Siddaramaiah, who has been entrusted with the responsibility of bringing the party back to power, succeed in his game plan? A section of leaders within the rulin

The state BJP on Monday accused the ruling Congress of trying to divide society by according separate religion status to Lingayats. "This is a devious and sinister design on the part of the Congress government ahead of the elections...The BJP stands for the united society consisting of Veerashiva and Lingayats as both are same and there is no difference at all in any respect," the BJP stated in a release. The state government has said that Lingayats are eligible for reservation only under 3B category which they are already enjoying. This has been done to safeguard the interest of minority comm

Rambhapuri Mutt seer Prasanna Renuka Veerasomeshwar Shivacharya Swami on Monday warned of waging a religious war if the Congress government recommended granting of minority religion status to Lingayats.Speaking to reporters he said: "We've clarified our stand that Veerashaiva and Lingayat are one and the same. Members of the expert panel, headed by retired high court judge H N Nagamohan Das, have identified with Lingayat faith. About 95 % of the people have rejected the proposal to accord the status of independent religion to Lingayat faith." "There is a greater responsibility on the shoulder

Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) students, who took a protest march to the Vasant Kunj police station today demanding professor Atul Johri's arrest in an alleged sexual harassment case, accused the men in uniform of "inaction" in the matter. "Four days after eight women students came forward with sexual harassment complaints against the professor, no action has been taken against him and just one FIR has been lodged," Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU) vice-president Simone Zoya Khan said. Deputy Commissioner of Police (south-west) Milind Dumbere said they were dealing with t

The CBI filed a charge sheet against a former chairman-cum-managing director of Canara Bank, R K Dubey, and five senior bank officials in a Rs 68.38 crore loan default case. Besides Dubey, those named in the charge sheet are the then executive directors Ashok Kumar Gupta and V S Krishnakumar, deputy general manager Mukesh Mahajan, chief general manager T Sreekanthan and assistant general manager Upendra Dubey. A private firm, Occasional Silver Company Ltd, and its directors Kapil Gupta and Raj Kumar Gupta have also been named in the charge sheet filed in Tis Hazari court in Delhi. In the FIR r

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday backed LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan statement that "Sabka saath, sabka vikas" should not only become a mere slogan but it should be implemented on the ground as well. Paswan, a key National Democratic Alliance (NDA) ally, had on Sunday expressed his displeasure over the way the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had been treating its alliance partners. "After the bypoll result, the top BJP leadership should ponder over what went wrong in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. Why a large section of people, particularly Dalits and minorities, have turned against the BJP? T

China’s road and other military infrastructure construction in the Doklam area near the Sikkim-Bhutan-Tibet tri-junction continues to cause concern in the Indian security establishment, with People’s Liberation Army now trying to circumvent Indian troop positions with an road axis in the region.

Diplomatic tensions between India and Pakistan intensified on Monday with Islamabad protesting against the denial of visas to over 500 pilgrims seeking to visit Ajmer Sharif and India saying “prevailing circumstances” and absence of security clearances were the reasons for its decision.

A Delhi court acquitted Delhi CM Kejriwal in two defamation cases — one filed by Union minister Nitin Gadkari and the other by advocate Amit Sibal, son of Congress leader Kapil Sibal — after he tendered written apologies. Kejriwal had earlier apologised to Akali leader B S Majithia.

In a bid to ensure relief to more than four crore construction workers, the Supreme Court on Monday asked the Centre to treat them as formal sector employees by bringing them within the ambit of social welfare laws and provide benefits like paid maternity leave, provident fund and minimum wage.

?Medical practitioners here in India feel the guidelines which recommend relaxing blood sugar targets will, not only lead to serious complications in diabetics, but also confusion in treatment protocol, advising that these should be ignored for Indians.

A day after he launched a highly personal attack on PM Modi, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi targeted Modi again on Monday and said he was in denial about the threat of “mass unemployment” and his “acche din” claim would take a beating.

In a political gamble close to the assembly polls, the Siddaramaiah government decided on Monday to declare Lingayats as a religious minority and include the Veerashaivas who follow Basavanna as a group within the community. The move is expected to have a huge impact on the assembly polls.

Northeast tourism on Centre’s mindWith a view to attract more tourists towards the Northeast, the government has signed four agreements for creating hospitality micro-entrepreneurs across key destinations in the region.

Veerashaiva followers clashed with members of the electorally influential Lingayat community Monday in a district in northern Karnataka, as Chief Minister Siddaramiah's government prepares to recommend religious status for Lingayats to the Narendra Modi government.

The top court accepted the petition filed by Hemraj's wife Khumkala Banjade who had challenged the decision of the Allahabad High Court acquitting the Talwars in the highly controversial murder case of Aarushi and Hemraj.

The protest was organised by the women wing of All India Muslim Personal Law Board. The IT cell of women wing of AIMPLB also stated that they will be waging a war against the Triple Talaq Bill on social networking platforms as well.

Gutkha still being sold, claims Stalin
<p>DMK working president and Leader of the Opposition M.K. Stalin on Monday alleged that gutkha was still being sold in various parts of the State. This was evident from the fact that the police were

Gold worth ?1 crore seized at airport in 2 days
<p> Two persons have been arrested at the Chennai airport for attempting to smuggle in 3.6 kg of gold worth ?1.1 crore and foreign currency worth ?12 lakh. </p><p>On Monday, Sikkandar Samsudeen, who c

Prohibitory order issued in Tirunelveli
<p>With various political parties announcing protests against the entry of the <em>Ram Rajya Rath Yatra, </em>organised by the Vishva Hindu Parishad, into Tirunelveli district, Collector Sandeep Nandu

Fighting has worsened between Pakistan and India in Kashmir. On Sunday, a mortar shell tore through a home in the Indian-controlled portion of the region, killing five members of a family and wounding others.

Mumbai, March 20 (IANS) Securities market regulator Sebi has "exempted" the central government from making open offers for its proposed acquisitions of additional shares of six public sector banks (PSBs).

Sixteen Korean automobile ancillaries exchanged MoUs with the Government of Andhra Pradesh, bringing in a total investment of $737 million (?4,790 crores) and have committed employment to 6,583 people. Apart from 534 acres at Erramanchi, the companies will establish units at Gudipalli (71 acres) and Ammavarupalli (138 acres). "Only last month, I was at the project site of Kia Motors for the Framework Installation Ceremony, and was very happy to see significant progress of the project," said the Chief Minister at the MoU signing. Kia Motors, along with the auto ancillaries from South Korea is the largest FDI in India in recent times. The ancillaries will supply to Kia Motors to cater to the plant's initial capacity of 3 lakh vehicles per annum. "I hope that by next March, all of you would have set base, so that you will be in sync with the production plan of bringing out the first car then. I am also keen to see more Korean investments come into our state following you, and set up a South Korea Township", he said. "I am confident that this establishment will help build a big automotive ecosystem, and strengthen the ties between AP and South Korea." The Chief Minister also spoke about the Backward Areas Ultra Mega Integrated Automobile Projects Policy, and the presence of more than 100 auto component manufacturers including Isuzu Motors, Hero Motors, Ashok Leyland, Apollo Tyres, Bharat Forge and others. "Make AP your second home, as the chosen area for the auto-cluster, Anantapur, is strategically located close to Bengaluru and is a part of two of the state's main industrial corridors," he said.

New Delhi, March 19 (IANS) India's domestic air passenger traffic rose to 1.07 crore in February 2018 -- up 24.14 per cent -- from 86.55 lakh in the corresponding month of 2017, official data showed on Monday.

New Delhi, March 19 (IANS) From futuristic denim technology brands like e-indigo, chrome chord, hybrid chinos to handloom ones like ikat, denim is witnessing a revolution in terms of design aesthetics and accessibility to cater to the "evolving" mentality of the customers. Arvind Ltd, a textile to retail and brands conglomerate, along with Invista, an integrated producer of fibres, displayed some of the variants of this wardrobe staple through its exclusive denim collection named aGravity' at its annual event Arvind Festive 2018 here. "Sustainability is the need of the hour and keeping this in mind, many brands are opting for sustainable options.

New Delhi, March 19 (IANS) The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) adjudicating on insolvency cases requires superior infrastructure that allows NCLT benches to be set up in proportion to the state-wise number of companies active in the region, state-run State Bank of India said on Monday. While the Central government has set up 11 benches of the NCLT, there are currently about 11 lakh active companies, according to the latest SBI Ecowrap report authored by Chief Economist Soumya Kanti Ghosh.

Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone has the 'Most Followed Account' and cricket star Virat Kohli has got the 'Most Engaged Account' on Instagram, according to the Instagram Awards which have been announced for the first time in India. Alia also got a 'milestone plaque' with Shraddha Kapoor in recognition for building a community of 20 million followers.

Chennai, March 19 (IANS) Two-time Indian Super League (ISL) champions Chennaiyin FC on Monday announced that head coach John Gregory has signed a one-year contract extension with the club. Under his leadership, the club finished second in the league stage of the competition and overcame FC Goa by a 4-1 aggregate victory in the semis. The first English coach to win the ISL trophy, Gregory led the side to an eight-match unbeaten run that culminated in a 3-2 victory over Bengaluru FC in the final, thus securing qualification to the 2019 AFC Cup.

Kolkata, March 19 (IANS) Sans skipper Dinesh Karthik, two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Monday began their first practice session ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) season at the Jadavpur University second campus ground in Salt Lake here.

Sawant informed the assembly that a campaign and survey was conducted in a few districts for leprosy in 2015 in which over 4 crore people were tested and almost 1.6 lakh were found to be suspected cases.